Mayor Bloomberg Donates $125-Million to Fight Smoking Around the World

Michael R. Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, has announced a $125-million donation to fight tobacco use worldwide, a rare public gift from a philanthropist who has preferred to keep his giving anonymous during the time he has held public office.

While Mr. Bloomberg is widely believed to be the donor behind recent large gifts to the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Princeton University, he has not confirmed those contributions.

Last year he ranked No. 8 on The Chronicle‘s list of the most-generous donors by making $144-million in donations to 850 charities.

He earned his wealth from the financial-information service that bears his name.

His most recent donation will provide the first two years of support for the Worldwide Stop Smoking Initiative, coordinated by nonprofit groups that fight smoking internationally.

The program will monitor countries’ progress in fighting tobacco use, support government efforts to pass and enforce laws against smoking, refine programs to help smokers quit, and take other steps to curb smoking.

“Tobacco is now the world’s leading killer,” said Mr. Bloomberg in a statement. “We have the proven means to reduce tobacco use, but policy makers are not applying these interventions.”

“This initiative isn’t just for the 20 percent of the world’s population who smoke, but also for the 80 percent who don’t,” he said.

Mr. Bloomberg has been a supporter of health causes in the past; the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is named after him.

At a press conference to announce the gift, Mr. Bloomberg signaled that he could become more public in his philanthropy in the coming years.

He noted that after he leaves office he plans to create a foundation, which will bring additional publicity to his giving.